Neck Cushion System

ABSTRACT

A neck cushion system for reducing the likelihood of brain injuries in American football includes a helmet that is worn during athletic activities to absorb impact energy. A pair of shoulder pads is provided and the pair of shoulder pads is worn during athletic activities. A cushion is provided and the cushion is worn around a neck when the helmet and shoulder pads are worn. The cushion is positioned between the helmet and the shoulder pads when the cushion is worn. Moreover, the cushion is comprised of a resiliently compressible material. In this way the cushion transfers impact energy from the helmet to the shoulder pads to reduce the likelihood of a brain injury the could result from the impact energy.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The disclosure and prior art relates to cushion devices and more particularly pertains to a new cushion device for reducing the likelihood of brain injuries in American football.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a helmet that is worn during athletic activities to absorb impact energy. A pair of shoulder pads is provided and the pair of shoulder pads is worn during athletic activities. A cushion is provided and the cushion is worn around a neck when the helmet and shoulder pads are worn. The cushion is positioned between the helmet and the shoulder pads when the cushion is worn. Moreover, the cushion is comprised of a resiliently compressible material. In this way the cushion transfers impact energy from the helmet to the shoulder pads to reduce the likelihood of a brain injury that could result from the impact energy.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a cushion of a neck cushion system according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a cushion of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a cushion of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 5 thereof, a new cushion device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the neck cushion system 10 generally comprises a helmet 12 that may be worn during athletic activities. The helmet 12 may be a football helmet and the athletic activities may be the game of American football. A pair of shoulder pads 14 is provided and the shoulder pads 14 may be worn during the athletic activities. Moreover, the shoulder pads 14 may be football shoulder pads or the like.

A cushion 16 is provided and the cushion 16 is around a neck 18 during the athletic activities and the cushion 16 is positioned between the helmet 12 and the shoulder pads 14. The cushion 16 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material such as foam rubber or the like. Thus, the cushion 16 transfers impact energy from the helmet 12 to the shoulder pads 14 to reduce the likelihood of a brain injury that could result from the impact energy. The cushion 16 has a first surface 20, a second surface 22 and a perimeter edge 24 extending therebetween. The perimeter edge 24 has a first lateral side 26, a second lateral side 28, a front side 30 and a back side 32.

The front side 30 curves toward the back side 32 between the first 26 and second 28 lateral sides to define a neck space 34 on the front side 30. The neck 18 space is positioned around the neck 18 when the cushion 16 is worn. The first surface 20 has a first depression 36 extending toward the second surface 22 and the first depression 36 has a first bounding surface 38. The first bounding surface 38 is substantially spaced from the perimeter edge 24 and the first bounding surface 38 is substantially coextensive with the perimeter edge 24. The first depression 36 accommodates a bottom edge of the helmet 12 when the cushion 16 is worn. The first bounding surface 38 has a pair of terminal ends 40 and the terminal ends 40 are spaced apart from each other. Thus, the terminal ends 40 forms a channel 42 that intersects the back side 32 of the pad.

The second surface 22 has a second depression 44 extending toward the first surface 20. The second depression 44 is positioned between the neck 18 space and the back side 32 and the second depression 44 has a second bounding surface 46. The second bounding surface 46 is continuous such that the second depression 44 has an ovoid shape. Moreover, the second depression 44 accommodates the shoulder pads 14 when the cushion 16 is worn. The second bounding surface 46 frictionally engages the shoulder pads 14 to retain the cushion 16 on the neck 18.

In use, each of the helmet 12, the shoulder pads 14 and the cushion 16 are worn while playing American football and any other athletic activity involving physical contact between players. The cushion 16 is compressed between the bottom edge of the helmet 12 and the shoulder pads 14 when a front side of the helmet 12 is exposed to impact energy. In this way the cushion 16 transfers the impact energy from the helmet 12 to the shoulder pads 14. Thus, the cushion 16 reduces the likelihood of a brain injury that may result from the impact energy.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements. 

I claim:
 1. A neck cushion system being configured to transfer impact energy from a helmet to shoulder pads thereby reducing concussion injuries, said assembly comprising: a helmet being configured to be worn during athletic activities wherein said helmet is configured to absorb impact energy; a pair of shoulder pads, said pair of shoulder pads being configured to be worn during athletic activities; and a cushion being configured to be worn around a neck when said helmet and said shoulder pads are worn, said cushion is positioned between said helmet and said shoulder pads when said cushion is worn, said cushion being comprised of a resiliently compressible material such that said cushion transfers impact energy from said helmet to said shoulder pads wherein said cushion is configured to reduce the likelihood of a brain injury.
 2. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said cushion has a first surface, a second surface and a perimeter edge extending therebetween, said perimeter edge having a first lateral side, a second lateral side, a front side and a back side, said front side curving toward said back side between said first and second lateral sides to define a neck space on said front side wherein said neck space is configured to be positioned around the neck.
 3. The assembly according to claim 2, wherein said first surface has a first depression extending toward said second surface, said first depression having a first bounding surface.
 4. The assembly according to claim 3, wherein said first bounding surface is spaced from said perimeter edge, said first bounding surface being coextensive with said perimeter edge, first depression accommodating a bottom edge of said helmet when said cushion is worn.
 5. The assembly according to claim 2, wherein said second surface has a second depression extending toward said first surface, said second depression being positioned between said neck space and said back side.
 6. The assembly according to claim 5, wherein said second depression has a second bounding surface, said second bounding surface being continuous such that said second depression has an ovoid shape, said second depression accommodating said shoulder pads when said cushion is worn such that said second depression retains said cushion on the neck.
 7. A neck cushion system being configured to transfer impact energy from a helmet to shoulder pads thereby reducing concussion injuries, said assembly comprising: a helmet being configured to be worn during athletic activities wherein said helmet is configured to absorb impact energy, said helmet having a bottom edge; a pair of shoulder pads, said pair of shoulder pads being configured to be worn during athletic activities, said shoulder pads having a top side; and a cushion being configured to be worn around a neck when said helmet and said shoulder pads are worn, said cushion being positioned between said helmet and said shoulder pads, said cushion being comprised of a resiliently compressible material such that said cushion transfers impact energy from said helmet to said shoulder pads wherein said cushion is configured to reduce the likelihood of a brain injury, said cushion having a first surface, a second surface and a perimeter edge extending therebetween, said perimeter edge having a first lateral side, a second lateral side, a front side and a back side, said front side curving toward said back side between said first and second lateral sides to define a neck space on said front side wherein said neck space is configured to be positioned around the neck, said first surface having a first depression extending toward said second surface, said first depression having a first bounding surface, said first bounding surface being spaced from said perimeter edge, said first bounding surface being coextensive with said perimeter edge, first depression accommodating a bottom edge of said helmet when said cushion is worn, said second surface having a second depression extending toward said first surface, said second depression being positioned between said neck space and said back side, said second depression having a second bounding surface, said second bounding surface being continuous such that said second depression has an ovoid shape, said second depression accommodating said shoulder pads when said cushion is worn such that said second depression retains said cushion on the neck. 